In Japan, the path for boys toward baseball stardom is clear. They grow up dreaming of Koshien and being selected in the NPB draft, and for the most gifted, a leap to MLB. It’s a career trajectory that can lead to fame and fortune.
For girls, however, the story is very different. The sport offers limited opportunities for women and few make a living playing professional ball.
Yet that hasn’t stopped a new wave of girls and young women from trying to play the game the way Shohei Ohtani does — on the mound and at the plate. Their push into two-way roles shows how the sport is evolving, though structural barriers persist and the kind of opportunities enjoyed by their male counterparts remain far off.